CEO at Symbiotic | Opportunity Scout at Gruppo Potente, in pursuit of opportunities without regard to resources currently controlled #WhatIsNext #AfricaRising

Getting the chasis

When now was the future, I planned and plotted much. But promises are fragile and the path from then to now is made up of broken flagstones of expectations.

I learnt a lot from my first job, starting out with Ksh. 6000 (USD 100) stipend per month.I spent whatever available free time I had devouring e-books white papers, tutorials and all matters web and design. I had no social life – not sure that has changed but every single Saturday and Sunday sawme glued to the screen till 7pm trying out stuff and seeing how ideas were presented and implemented out there. The likes of Agency.com, Pixel ranger, Glue London, 2advanced studious, O’rilley were my daily fix.

With time, I got good, real good and went on to handle big brand names such as Nation Media {Nation media portal , Nation Syndicated}, CocaCola {lifeinred – Kenya and Tanzania}, EABL {pilsner, tusker brands}, Central Bank of Kenya.

As time progressed certain agreements were relegated on and I arrived at the conclusion that no one really cares about you save for yourself. I had gotten increments to my “salary” butit was pitiful compared to the retainers handled that brought in close to 70 times what finally got to me. Lessons were learnt, this stuff they will not teach you in school. I left my position heading the interactive media department and went on to join an off shoot firm called Cellulant – Kenya’spremier VAS company with sms and ivr systems.

Things looked up at Cellulant, with a lean and mean team constituted to take Kenya, East Africa and finally Africa by storm with an arsenal of innovative products and services. Teething problems brought with them the stresses and difficulties of operating in a region where VC funding is hard to come by and banks not giving a second look to a business model that they have never encountered before.

It made sense to leave; it made sense to “hustle” for guaranteed money to live on at the end of the month. Perhaps this was my first lesson in start up planning – have enough finance to carry you through the initial stages or don’t commit to staff and other resources explicitly. So I left Cellulant too having headed the User Experience and Produce design department.

An Africa based entrepreneur in the pursuit of opportunities without regard to resources currently controlled striving to build services that have real-world value for my beloved continent and beyond while having fun along the way.